The Roman Empire and Religion

Terms to Tackle :

Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth

Messiah

Crucifixion

Resurrection

Apostles

Paul of Tarsus

Constantine

Are thereany terms you

recognize?

The Tolerant Romans

• When Romans took over new lands, they allowed the people to continue to practice their own religions.

• Sometimes, they even adopted the conquered peoples’ religions.

Many Romans adopted the Greek gods as their own but renamed them.

Some evenadoptedEgyptian

gods.

Religious Freedom Causes Problems

• If Romans saw a religion as a problem, they made it so the people of that religion couldn’t meet.

• Judaism was one religion seen by the Romans as a problem.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion. Romansfound it disrespectful for the Jews to not worship

many gods.

Clashes with the Jews• The Romans allowed

the Jews to practice their religion.

• However, the Jews resented Roman rule and tried many times to get Romans out of Judea, the territory where many Jews lived.

Despite multipleattempts,

the Jews failedto get the Romans

out of Judea.

Judea

See if you can find Rome. CheckOut how much the empire grew!

Jerusalem is Crushed

• Jews were treated harshly and taxed heavily.

• Wanting to get rid of Jews, certain Jewish rituals were banned.

• This treatment caused the Jews to rebel.

The Romans conquered the Jews’ holy land, Jerusalem.They kicked the Jews out and forbade them to enter.

Despite beingdestroyed, Jewspersevered andmoved to other

places.

A New Religion• Before the Jews were

kicked out of Rome, some lived in Judea.

• Since the Romans were SOOO strict, the Jews lived very structured lives.

• They believed a Messiah would soon be sent to them by God.

Messiah meansGod’s

anointed one.

Jews believedThe Messiah would come if

They followed Moses’s rules.

Christianity and Jesus of Nazareth

• Christianity is a religion that began to appear in Judea based on Jesus’ teachings.

• Jesus was believed to be the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for.

• Much of what we know of Jesus is written in the Christian’s holy book, the Bible.

The bible is broken into the Old Testamentand the New Testament.

The Birth of Jesus• Jesus was born in

Bethlehem.• His birth marks the

shift in our dating system from B.C. to A.D.

• Jesus’ mother’s name was Mary, and Mary’s husband was named Joseph. Christians

believe Godwas Jesus’ father,

not Joseph.

As a man, Jesus probably studied carpentry with Joseph, butWhen he turned 30 he began to travel and teach about religion.

Crucifixion

• Jesus was super popular!

• However, Jesus’ ideas challenged politicians in Rome.

• In the Bible it says that Jesus was arrested around AD 30.

People werevery excited

about Jesus andhis teachings.

Jesus was executed by crucifixion. In other words, he was

nailed to a cross and left for dead.

Resurrection• After Jesus was crucified, he

was buried.• According to Christian

beliefs, Jesus rose from the dead and exited his tomb.

• Many of Jesus’ followers believed to have seen him even after he died.

• It was this resurrection that made his followers sure that he was the Messiah.

People began to call him Christ from the word Christos,

meaning Messiah in Greek.

The Last Supperis a famouspainting by

da Vinci that showsJesus eating final meal

with hisApostles.

Jesus’ Teachings• Jesus taught his

followers many things.

• Jesus was Jewish, so many of his ideas were rooted in Jewish traditions.

Be generousto the poor

and the sick.Love yourenemies.

Love Godand love others.

Salvation fromSin.

LoveGod more

than anything.

For centuries, Jesus’ teachings have been interpreted. Because people interpretthings differently, many denominations of Christianity have developed.

Jesus’ Teachings Spread• Jesus chose 12

disciples to receive special training.

• These disciples earned the name Apostle.

• These Apostles had the job of spreading Jesus’ teachings.

Apostles and disciples wrote gospels, which were stories of Jesus’ life and teachings.

Four gospelsare foundin the NewTestament.

Matthew

Luke

John

Mark

Paul of Tarsus

• Paul of Tarsus was the most important part in the spread of Christianity.

• He wrote letters that told about Jesus’ resurrection and his ideas of salvation.

• Paul also told Christians they did not have to obey Jewish laws and rituals.

Christianity Grows

• Christianity spread amongst Jews first and then amongst non-Jews.

• Romans began to challenge Christians like they had challenged the Jews.

• Some Christians were killed or arrested for not believing in Roman Gods.

Christians werepersecuted, or

punished becauseof their beliefs.

This persecution did not stopChristians from believing in Jesus’

teachings.

Constantine and Christianity

• Christians were forced to meet in secret.

• However, they still spread their faith.

• In the early 300s, Constantine became emperor and lifted the ban on Christianity.

Later, Christianity became the official

religion of Rome.

Recapitulate

Recapitulate

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